Fargo ace Tyler Herron pitched a masterful game on Thursday afternoon, giving up a run on four hits over 7.1 innings, as the RedHawks beat up on the Birds 10-1 at Newman Outdoor Field.

In stark contrast to Herron’s excellent outing was a struggling Shawn Blackwell. Blackwell labored through five innings, allowing eight runs on 11 hits, walking one and striking out two.

Things got ugly early for Blackwell. In the bottom of the first, Chad Mozingo led off with a single and would score on the very next play, a RBI double from Ryan Pineda. Pineda would advance to third on a productive flyout from Keury De La Cruz. Josh Mazzola then singled to bring in Pineda to push the lead to 2-0.

The second inning wasn’t much better. Bryan Johns reached on an error by Blake Schmit and would come around to score on a Ryan Pineda single to the build the RedHawks’ lead to 3-0. After Pineda advanced to second on the throw home, De La Cruz roped a double to left, scoring Pineda to bring the lead to 4-0.

The RedHawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the third to again threaten to put the game far out of reach early. Bryan Johns plated Brian Humphries with a sacrifice fly as the Fargo lead swelled to 5-0.

Kes Carter kept the RedHawks bats rolling with a solo homer in the fifth, and RBI singles from De La Cruz and K.D. Kang in the sixth essentially sealed the game for Fargo, with an 8-0 lead.

The lone run for the Canaries came in the eighth inning. Cameron Monger singled to lead off the eighth, then stole second. Ethan Chapman laced a booming double into the alley in right, allowing Monger to score easily to break the shut out. The RedHawks would add two more in the bottom of the eighth to cap off the scoring at 10-1.

Ozney Guillen pushed his hitting streak to 14 games with a bloop single to left in the sixth. His 14-game streak is currently tied for the longest hitting streak in the American Association this season.

The Birds will look to regroup as they come back home to The Birdcage on Friday and Saturday against defending American Association champion Laredo Lemurs. Joe Bircher (0-4, 2.62 ERA) will take the mound for the Canaries on Friday night and will face Matt Sergey (3-0, 0.73 ERA). Contact the Canaries ticket office for information regarding single game or season ticket options by calling 605-336-6060 or visit the website at www.sfcanaries.com for more information.

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